Bengals vs. Cardinals: What's the Game Plan for Cincinnati?

Coming off the first loss of their season, the Cincinnati Bengals enter their toughest matchup to date on the Week 11 edition of Sunday Night Football against the Arizona Cardinals. 

There isn't much to panic about when it comes to the 8-1 Bengals after a loss in which sloppy execution ruled the day. But a trip to the desert to take on the 7-2 Cardinals serves as the biggest test of the season.

Folks will quickly point to the he said-she said between former Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer and his old team, but even more interesting is the ensuing on-field chess match between two teams that match up well against each other and continue to fire on all cylinders.

Here's a look at how Cincinnati should approach the contest from a game-plan standpoint.

Offensive Game Plan  

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Last week, Cincinnati got too complicated against a Houston defense and paid the price. Andy Dalton got the ball out quick, but he was often under pressure, impatient and forceful, making mistakes and then watching as his weapons dropped the balls by the time he found his composure. 

Meanwhile, Cincinnati backs carried the ball 15 times in a 10-6 game.

Cincinnati cannot abandon the run this weekend or it could force a doomsday scenario on the road against a defense that has tallied 15 sacks and 14 interceptions. Like Houston, Arizona has press corners such as Patrick Peterson who can play right on the line and disrupt timing long enough for the rush to hit home.

The key, then, is better balance, almost to a fault. Jeremy Hill's only averaging 3.2 yards per carry, but his north-south style will force the Cardinals to be honest, and subbing in the more reliable Giovani Bernard will add some unpredictability to the attack.

This in turn will help the receivers find room, with another point of emphasis being A.J. Green's ability to line up all over the field. Moving Green around will allow the Bengals to dictate where Peterson is on the field and exploit Jerraud Powers, Pro Football Focus' No. 53 ranked corner.

Cincinnati can line up and beat the Cardinals while controlling the game, but it takes commitment.

Defensive Game Plan 

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Defending the Cardinals is more complicated than scoring on them. 

Palmer's completing 64 percent of his passes with a 23-7 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Behind him, Chris Johnson has 734 yards and three scores on just 166 attempts. Larry Fitzgerald has 65 grabs for 836 yards and seven scores, while running mate Michael Floyd has 27 for 432 and five on limited playing time.

The first point is stopping the run. Cincinnati has looked better with Vontaze Burfict back in the fold, but keep in mind the lone time the unit faced a quality running back since his return was against Pittsburgh, where the Steelers rushed for 116 yards on better than six yards per tote.

The man formerly known as CJ2K looks great this year and can break a big one if Cincinnati isn't careful with its pursuits and angles. 

As one can see, though, the biggest concern comes through the air. Adam Jones is in the middle of an incredible season, but he's going to have his hands full with Fitzgerald. Dre Kirkpatrick made a few great plays against the Texans, but Palmer will consistently look to go his way. 

The key will be pressure and disruption. If Geno Atkins can explode up the middle, with or without the help of a blitz, it creates a ticking clock in Palmer's head capable of leading to mistakes. Bringing whoever lines up against Fitzgerald help and letting the rest of the unit pin its ears back can produce results, an approach employed by Pittsburgh, the only team to force Palmer into a multi-interception day.

Key Players and Matchups 

A.J. Green 

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Peterson remains one of the game's best corners, putting on a show against major names such as Calvin Johnson, Steve Smith, Antonio Brown and more this season.

Green's task is simple, at least on paper: move all over the field and find a way to create separation. Easier said than done, but doing so will make it easier to keep the Cardinals guessing and for Dalton to move the ball to others.

If Green cannot win what might be the best one-on-one matchup of the week, the Bengals won't have an easy time.

Dre Kirkpatrick

Kirkpatrick's going to have his hands full Sunday, whether it involves dueling at the line with Floyd or helping find a way to contain John Brown.

If an offense had to choose, it would ignore Adam Jones and throw at Kirkpatrick, who, according to PFF, has been thrown at 61 times this year with a 52.5 completion percentage rate with better than 12 yards allowed per catch, 166 of the 387 coming from the yards-after-catch category.

Palmer will be well aware of these numbers, so Kirkpatrick's a focal point.

Jeremy Hill

If the Bengals fall into a mostly one-dimensional look against a defense as great as Arizona's, well, it will look a lot like last Monday.

To Cincinnati's credit, the strategy continues to be riding the hot hand.

"We've played a lot of great rush defenses this year," Hill said, according to ESPN.com's Coley Harvey. "We understand that, and the smarter OCs in this league, they don't get stubborn and try to force it down. You've got to take what the defense is giving you, and we've done that this year.

Hill needs to become that hot hand, though, because one of the tickets to upending the Cardinals is dictating the pace. Making the defense respect him opens things up for wideouts down the field.

Prediction 

These aren't the Bengals of old that fold in a tough matchup or don't stand a chance because a few key players can't go.

These also aren't unbeatable Cardinals, especially when one looks at the team's route to 7-2 against mostly miserable teams. One could argue, too, that Arizona lost its toughest two encounters against St. Louis and Pittsburgh. Maybe the Seattle win sneaks in, but Cincinnati beat the Seahawks as well.

The point is, Cincinnati has the talent on paper to compete with the Cardinals straight up. It's a matter of execution, as anyone could see last week. If the offense stops dropping passes and makes a little more headway on the ground and the defense can force errant throws by a less-than-mobile quarterback, the Bengals can pull of the road win.

Prediction: Cincinnati 20, Arizona 17 

Stats courtesy of NFL.com and are accurate as of November 13. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.